, 1887-09-16
ONE COFFIN TOO MANY.
A CASE WHERE A SUPERSTITION
SQUARED WITH THE FACTS.

A Story of the Time When Things Had
Just Begun to Boom in the Old Tuo-
lumne Camp-"one Comm Short" at the
Funeral.
at was at the old Tuolumne camp when
things had just begun to boom. A few rich
strikes that some of the lucky ones had made
had encouraged the rest of us to hang on
Thu Jumping Jehosbaphat claim had got In
some of the new tangled powder and was
blasting away for all that was out. Most of
us looked askance at the new powder, and
when Uncle Billy Grimes prophesied that the
camp would be blown up with the stuff or
get poisoned with its fumes, as his partner
had at Red gulch, we made the Jumping
Jehoshaphat boys move it out of harms way.
So when a blast went Off one fine morning,
when nobody was expecting 1t, and laid out
five of the best men in the camp, we were all
able to say, i told you So as we rushed up
to the claim.
"The camp was intensely excited, for these
were the first deaths since we came in, not
counting two sluice robbers and a horse thief
that we had hung for luck. We stood of a
little bit, for no one but the five boys in the
pit knew whether there were half a dozen
more to go off. But we sailed in pretty soon
and hauled out what was left of the boys,
and it was a sight to make you sick. We
were pretty badly cut up about it, and when
we had cleaned them up and laid them out
decently in their cabin we went down in
front of Dutch Dawes saloon, and 81 Haw-
kins called the meeting to order.
"'Boys,' he said, in a husky voice, we've
got our first chance to start a graveyard and
no town ever had a better. Them boys thar,
and he jerked his thumb over, his shoulder,
would do any graveyard proud, and we ought
to start 'em off in style. It's a rotten shame
IL we don't give 'em the best send Off the
markets got, and d-n the expense
w cheered the sentiment, in spite of the
occasion, and he continued: What we want
to do is to send for coffins. Any man that's
in favor of this sentiment, can just walk up
here and plank down his dust
No one could refuse this appeal, and the
needed sum was soon raised. An order was
written to the Simpsonville undertaken and
given to the driver of the down stage, with
the verbal message:
"'If they amt here by to-morrer night a
committee of Their boys'n be down thar ter
find out why, an they'll need their collins ter
hum
About sunset next evening a wagon
turned off the main road and came into
camp. 1t brought the collins. They were
unloaded, one after the other, and shone with
all the splendor that fresh varnish could give
them.
"'Thar's style for ye,' said Hawkins, with
pardonable pride. allow the boys would en-
joy 'em if they were here. By the Lord
Harryp he shouted, suddenly, there's six
here. Who ordered sixF
"Jim Davis was the man that wrote the let
ter. He turned deathly pale and said: by
-, there's bad luck coming. There's a
sixth man in this crowd. l ordered five
collins, an that extra one hasn't come for
nothing
"There was a sudden silence, and the most
of the crowd turned as pale as Jim. 1t did look
mighty plausible that that there coffin was
looking for some one, and each man felt an
uncomfortable suspicion that he was the one.
The only one that was bold enough to resent
the idea was Five Fingered Jack, who had
been born with five fingers on his left hand,
and had evened matters up by shooting Off
his thumb.
"'You're a good one, Jim,' he says, you're
the scholard of the crowd, but you can't write
straight yet
"'See here said Jim, getting riled, L ant
no scholard, but l don't knuckle down to no
man when it comes to orderin collins. 1 KEEP
a copy of the letter, soft the undertaken don't
cut any shines with u.s. He pulled out the
letter, and he had written five as plain as life.
"'That coffin has come for one of u.s., he
continued, AN it means business. 1t stands
to reason hat when a coffin travels twenty
five miles it's goin' to git its man.
W gathered round, looking about as
solemn as we felt, and some of the boys kept
a looking over their shoulders suspicious like
to the cabin where the dead men lay, as
though they were afraid the night might
encourage 'em to come out an pick their
company for the next days journey.
Isl Hawkins tried to pump the fellow that
drove the team up to the camp, but he didn't
know anything about it. The collins had been
loaded in by the undertaken, and he brought
them VI as they were given to him. So
Hawkins told us to come into Dutch Dawes,
and the boys began to get their courage out
of a bottle, in the natural way. AS they got
livened up they began to joke about their
fears and recommend candidates for the
vacant honor.
"'Mebbe it's after the Teller what stole
Simpsons horse said Five Fingered Jack, in
a sort of bantering tone. EFF he's ketched
he'll need it mighty bad
"The crowd laughed-all but Jim. he took
It seriously and tried to argue the matter.
He won't git no %cof1in,' he said. He'll be
lucky ter git buried at all. Ye can laugh all
yer want ter, but there's goin' to be six
funerals tomorrow instid of tve.'
"'Ther's a dead coyote a little ways up the
gulch. Mebbe ye'd like ter plant him along
Will Iuo DO1SY SOhtLuucu cdSh, hlOCkluR
him.
slim began to get his back up. Thar
Hear that he said. 1t was only the boot Of
the mountain owl, but it's enough to give a
dead man the cold shivers if he's feeling a
little Off color. Hear thatl Eff that doesn't
mean bad luck I'm q Dutchman.'
"Some Of the boys began to look nervous
again.
"'Shet up, cam yer said Jack, contempt
uously. Ye're wuss nor a boot owl yerself.
A scared fool like you is q regular Jonah In
camp. Ye'd break it up in a week eff ye had
yer way
a'Who's a scared foolp says Jim, firing up
like a fig ting cock.
"'You air. says Jack.
aver a liar, says Jim.
"The boys began to climb behind boxes and
anywhere else they could to get out of the
way. There had been bad feeling between
the two ever since they came into camp, and
We knew it meant business when they began
passing compliments like that. About as
soon as you could say Jack Robinson the
popping began. TIL two men walked toward
each other firing as fast as you could count.
Jim dropped to the floor. Five Fingered Jack
wavered a moment and then fell across Jim's
body.